Jerry Brown says lawmakers need to ‘man up,’ make budget cuts

Gov. Jerry Brown didn’t mince words on his 40-minute appearance on KGO radio’s Ronn Owens show this morning, saying that Sacramento lawmakers need to “man up” and make the billions of dollars worth of budget cuts he proposed in January, and also predicting that the state’s shortfall could exceed the $9 billion his administration estimated four months ago.

Lawmakers in the Democratically-controlled Legislature have thus far demurred from approving any of the governor’s budget cuts, saying they want to wait until May, when Brown’s administration will release a revised proposal based on tax returns over the past several months.

But the governor said things may look worse than they did in January, noting that even if voters approve his tax hikes, the state would still need those the deep reductions he has proposed to prison spending, welfare and other social programs.

“We still have a $9 billion deficit, and it’s probably bigger now,” he said, later adding, “The legislature has to man up, make the cuts.”

The governor was lively and frank, defending his plan to raise taxes as well as the state’s welfare program and high speed rail plan — and speaking to the importance of the state’s undocumented immigrant community.

He also told Owens that he will not be labeling the tax hike he is pushing for the November’s ballot as a “millionaire’s tax.”

But things got most heated during discussions over the state’s undocumented population and Indian gaming.

When Owens questioned whether Indian tribes are taking advantage of the state by being allowed to run casinos without paying taxes, Brown bristled, saying there is “an historic legacy here we need to deal with,” and noting that the state’s first governor called for “exterminating” the state’s Native Americans.

“Its not a scam, it’s turning people who have been impoverished, and have been around here for 10,000 years,” lives around, the governor insisted.

When a caller asked about the cost of illegal immigrants to the state — and Owens followed up with remarks about the the undocumented population using school, prison and other resources — the governor didn’t skip a beat.

“Most of them are doing a hell of a lot of work, and most of the food you eat was picked by undocumented workers,” he said. “It’s one of the reasons California is still growing. We need people to buy homes. We also need immigration reform and border security, but don’t just scapegoat people … By the way if nobody came to California anymore, your property value would go down.”

“I’m telling you if 2 million undocumented people were rounded up tomorrow, and put on buses and sent to the foriegn countries from which they came, there would be a massive drop economic activity. They are working, buying things, paying for things,” he said.
Brown argued there ought to be a path to citizenship, noting he signed the Dream Act — allowing some undoucmented college students to apply for financial aide — and saying he is “glad” if a kids with farm worker parents go on to succeed in the business world.